Bottle cap



Oct. 9, 1928. 1,686,514

L. R. N. CARVALHO BOTTLE CAP Filed Jan. 29, 1925 mm W INVEN'TCJRPatented Oct. 9, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LESLIE R, N. OARVALHO, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLOSURE SERVICECOMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BOTTLE GALP.

Application filed January 29, 1926. Serial No. 84,546.

My invention relates to a cap or closure device for bottles, jarsorother containers, and more particularly to a type of cap preferably madeof sheet metal and "provided with screw threads for securing it to thecontainer.

An objection to the ordinary screw caps in use at the present day isthat they sometlmes bind on the container so that theyare difficult toremove. This is dueto an excessive amount of friction between thethreads of the cap and the container. An object of the present inventionis to overcome this objection by providing suitable means to assist inremoving the cap and also to reduce the friction so that the cap may beremoved with less effort, and moreover to provide a construction whichwill enable a person to obtain'an effective grip on the cap and thusassist in removing it.

hereinafter.

In the accompanylng drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation view of a cap con-.

structed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same, a portion being broken away.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view indicating the manner in which the capmay be sprung or deformed to release its grip on the container andpermit it to be removed.

The cap as herein shown is a single piece cap made of sheet metal andcomprises a top or cover portion 4 and an integral depending flangeportion 5. The flange 5 is formed with screw threads 6 extendingcircumferentially thereof to engage cooperating threads or otherholdingmeans on the container. The flange may also be provided with aring of dents or corrugations 7 above the screw threads to enable abetter grip to be obtained in attaching or removing the cap.

At intervals around its periphery, the cap is provided with knobs orraised portions 8 formed by bending or stamping the metal outward, sothat when the cap is applied to the container, the portions thereofforming said knobs are spaced from the underlying threads or surface ofthe container. These knobs protrude a short distance beyond the outlineof the adjacent threads 6. As shown, four of these knobs 8 are provided,spaced at equal intervals around the periphery of the cap. The number,however, may obviously be increased or decreased as desired.

Other objects of the invention will appear The knobs 8 may extendtransversely of the flange from the usual head or lower rolled edge 9 ofthe flange upward to or through the ring of corrugations 7. The knobsmay extend circumferentially of the cap any desired distance. It will benoted that these knobs reduce the length of the threads 6, thus reducingthe extent of the frictional engaging surface of the cap with thecontainer. By making these knobs of considerable length, that is,extending them for a considerable distance circumferentially of theflange, or by increasing their number, the length of the threads orextent of such engaging surface may be reduced to any desired extent,thereby reducing as much as desired the friction with which the cap isheld on the container. Due to the-substantially flat formation andyieldability of the relatively wide gripping areas of the knobs, inwardpressure applied thereto causes inward yielding of said flat portion,and outward movement of adjacent portions of the threads, therebyreducing frictional contact between the closure and containersufficiently to permit ready removal of the closure.

The knobs 8 assist in securing or removing the cap from the containernot only by shortening the screw threads and thereby reducing the amountof frictional resistance, but also provide a very effective grippingmeans enabling a person to apply much more force to the cap in screwingit on or off and with much greater ease than is possible without suchmeans. They are much more effective for this purpose than the usualcorrugations 7 the latter being necessarily rather fine and alsoconfined to the narrow margin between the top of the cap and the threads6.

If any difficulty is experienced in removing the cap by simply grippingit with the hand and turning it, the knobs 8 can be flattened out byapplying pressure thereto with the back of a knife or with any othersuitable tool, or can be flattened by slight pounding with any suitableimplement. This serves to expand the flange portion of the cap orlengthen it circumferentially, thereby releasing it or lessening itsgrip on the container so that it can be easily removed. By reference toFigure 3, it will be seen that by flattening the knob as indicated at8", the flange .or thread 6 is expanded outwardly from the broken lineposition tothe full line position.

The extent of this expansion is somewhat exaggerated in the drawing toclearly illustrate the principle.

Modifications may be resorted to within the 5 spirit and scope of myinvention.

10 and raised portions on the circumferential flange extendingtransversely of the threads and forming readily ieldable knobs arrangedat intervals aroun the periphery of the flange, said knobs formed bystamping portions of the metal of the flange radially outward providingsubstantially fiat gripping areas uniformly spaced from the adjacentsurfaces of the container, saidknobs being formed to yield readily underhand pressure and thereby decrease the area of contact between the screwthreaded fiange and the container.

Signed at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, this 22 dayof January, I

, LESLIE R, N. GARVALHO.

